No luck involved with 'Happy-Go-Lucky'

In minute one of Happy-Go-Lucky the look on Sally Hawkins face is so happy and carefree that you expect her to break into song.

Chim Chim Cher-ee or The Sound of Music, or any catchy ditty will do.

Hawkins plays a young eternally optimistic schoolteacher named Poppy. She’s enthusiastic and bubbly to the point of irritating. There’s so much light in this young woman that she probably doesn’t need a flashlight in the dark.

There is no center to writer/director Mike Leigh’s story. It is just Poppy being happy here, Poppy being happy there. Experiences with the curmudgeon driving coach -- played wonderfully by character actor Eddie Marsan -- are the film’s best scenes and they drive the movie.

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About Gary Wolcott

Gary Wolcott's "Mr. Movie" column has appeared in the Tri-City Herald since 1992. The Tri-Cities native now lives in Portland, Ore., and watches about 200 movies each year. He believes movies are made to be seen on theater screens and that you should see them there, too. He also encourages questions and comment and loves movie debate.